Real Estate

Real Estate

Dubai continues to attract not only corporate investors looking to acquire investment property in prime locations within the city but also individuals who wish to own a home in Dubai. If you want to sell your property, or you have found a property you want to purchase, it is essential you have a professional and experienced legal team in place to ensure all the requirements are met, more specifically, verifying the property in question.

Our bilingual real estate practice team has vast local knowledge and continued awareness of the challenging business environment in the real estate market in the UAE. Complemented by the expertise of our corporate and dispute resolution team, we advise sellers, buyers, developers, brokers, landlords and tenants on the full spectrum of real estate transactions. Our practice includes representation in sale, purchase, lease or management of commercial and residential real estate, development of projects, and all matters of property disputes. In particular we provide assistance and advice in the following:

A Property sale and purchase transaction involves several stages prior to finalization between the seller and the buyer. Normally, there will be a period of time from the signing of a memorandum of understanding (outlining the terms of the transaction) and payment of the deposit until the signing of the sale and purchase agreement and payment of the balance of the purchase price.

Within that period we ensure that the information exchanged regarding the property is verified and accurate prior to executing the sale and purchase agreement. Precisely, we ensure that the developer/ project is registered at the land department with a trust account (escrow) (for off-plan/ first buyers), and that the property is free from all kinds of undisclosed encumbrances and burdens (for secondary market buyers).

In Dubai like most of the western countries home financing options are widely offered by banks and other financial institutions. Our real estate team specializes in handling the intricate financing issues specifically related to the risks associated with the complicated financing terms and conditions in order to secure the current and future interests of our clients while buying properties using financing options.

Long-term leases (residential, commercial and retail)
Our real estate lawyers specialize in all type of tenancy transactions. We guide our clients through the lease preparation process and further throughout the lease term, whether for landlords or tenants.

A well negotiated and clearly drafted lease document facilitates the establishment of a much more comfortable, open and genial landlord-tenant relationship throughout the term of the lease. We also provide representation in all matters of tenancy disputes before the Tenancy Disputes Settlement Centre in Dubai.

Our creative and diligent bilingual dispute resolution team offers a range of tools and services in relation to both local litigation and international arbitration. We have the technical expertise and experience to provide representation in all matters of property disputes.

Our lawyers understand that, whenever possible and appropriate, clients prefer to resolve real estate disputes without recourse to costly and protracted litigation. However, in practice, not all disputes are capable of resolution. In such circumstances, we offer robust representation and an assertive approach to litigation.

In UAE, often developers prefer to include the sale and purchase agreement an “arbitration clause” to refer any dispute arising from the agreement to arbitration. Our arbitration team has a significant practice in arbitration cases before major arbitration centres in the UAE including Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC), Abu Dhabi Commercial Conciliation and Arbitration Center (ADCCAC) and Ras Al Khaimah Centre of Reconciliation and Commercial Arbitration.

Our dispute resolution team has won a number of landmark rulings related to real estate disputes against major developers in the UAE. For more information on this matter, please visit our “Success Stories” page.

Conveyancing is the transfer for legal ownership of property from one owner to another. Our real estate team’s goal is to ensure that the passing of ownership is smooth, timely and without unexpected last minute surprises, and certainly stress free.

Our lawyers go through the reviewing process of the draft sale and purchase agreement (and any other legal documents) to ensure that all the required legal formalities are met. We also offer advice on the final execution and conclusion of the ownership transfer process until obtaining the title deed from the Dubai Land Department, the final documentary evidence of the ownership of the property.

We also advise non-Muslims on the most advantageous way of passing their Dubai estate to their chosen heirs, hence, avoiding often complex, costly and uncertain legal proceedings.